Chapter 381

Over the next few days, the magnificent hall seemed to return to its usual atmosphere of research and exchange.

High-tier wizards continued to discuss profound laws, and low-tier disciples also studied or conducted small-scale duels.

But for Jie Ming, the situation was already completely different.

Ever since he showed that "Imaginary Element" ability in the competition, he had become a small focal point in the hall.

People coming to exchange wizardry and discuss alchemy insights with him were endless, and among them, a group had a clear purpose—to purchase the "Imaginary Element" he produced for research.

Exchange is acceptable, inspiring each other.

But this purchase for research... made Jie Ming have a headache.

The problem mainly stemmed from some people purchasing too frequently.

Jie Ming looked at Lei Ke, who had stood in front of him again, couldn't help rubbing his eyebrows, and sighed: "Lei Ke, it hasn't even been an hour, right? You've already consumed the last portion?"

Lei Ke had a look of irritability and a trace of helplessness on his face from the experiment being blocked, pointing to an empty, specially made crystal container in his hand:

"Your 'Imaginary Element' properties are too special. Once it leaves the closed environment you bless, under the continuous correction of the plane's laws, the survival time is terrifyingly short! I just guided it into the observation rune array, and before I had time to record the basic fluctuation spectrum, it had already begun to dissipate and shift in properties!"

Jie Ming looked at him speechlessly: "Then you should take it back to your personal laboratory at the academy and use the highest-spec isolation force field for research!"

"Besides, with your current level and depth of understanding of laws, it's impossible for you to effectively analyze this level of 'Imaginary Element' at all, right?"

While he was speaking, he still skillfully drew a wisp of pure concentrated Spiritual Energy from his internal space, stuffed it into a specially made test tube, and handed it over.

Lei Ke also skillfully transferred a not-insignificant amount of low-level military merit to Jie Ming's account through the magic network terminal.

He took the test tube, felt the energy aura in it that was completely different from the world, and sighed distressingly: "I know, I know it all in theory! But... I just can't help it!"

"This thing is too strange; although it can be sensed, mental power is difficult to guide it deeply, just like observing the scenery on the other side of the world through a layer of invisible frosted glass; the less clear it is, the more I want to see it!"

Jie Ming could only shake his head helplessly.

In his eyes, Lei Ke's behavior was simply throwing military merit into the water, not even hearing a sound.

Imaginary Element, or the "Imaginary Element" he disguised—Spiritual Energy, its essence originates from an underlying logic different from the current mainstream rule system of the wizard universe.

In Jie Ming's view, Spiritual Energy is the true and undeniable foundation of cultivation.

But under the cognitive framework of wizard civilization, it completely fits all definitions of "Imaginary Element": originating from "Fictional Laws," not fully compatible with the existing system, and unstable under the plane's self-adaptive mechanism.

And this kind of "Imaginary Element" has a particularly significant impact on wizards at a certain stage.

Especially those wizards who have initially contacted and begun to understand laws, but whose mastery is not enough to build a complete law view, and whose souls and cognition are in a critical period of reshaping—specifically the stage from Tier 3 to Tier 4!

Wizards of higher levels have already stabilized their own law systems, and their cognition is deeply rooted.

They will not be shaken by "noise" from different systems from the outside.

Wizards of lower levels haven't even touched the door of laws, and their souls and cognition are like blank paper.

Contacting a Spiritual Energy environment only makes them feel that spellcasting is not smooth, like punching in viscous liquid, but it will not produce essential "rejection" or "discomfort."

Only Tier 3 and Tier 4 wizards like Lei Ke have their souls and cognition in a sensitive period of leaping from "using rules" to "understanding and defining rules."

They have extremely poor resistance to Spiritual Energy, which represents another set of "rules"!

Just being in an environment rich in Spiritual Energy produces a "cognitive suffocation" like oxygen deprivation, mental power operation is sluggish, and it is difficult to effectively mobilize and analyze.

This is also why the Tier 3 and Tier 4 wizards who recognized "Imaginary Element" in the previous competition surrendered decisively.

In that environment, seven-tenths of their abilities were gone, and they couldn't fight at all.

It is also the confidence Jie Ming had in his previous tactics to prioritize solving the more threatening Tier 5 wizards, without worrying too much about being besieged by middle and low-tier wizards.

Therefore, with Lei Ke's current Tier 3 wizard level, the difficulty of wanting to deeply study Spiritual Energy is not generally high.

Even with a full set of top laboratory equipment assistance, it is like letting a primary school student who has just learned addition and subtraction understand calculus, getting half the result with twice the effort, and it is almost impossible to have substantial results.

"Lei Ke," Jie Ming couldn't help but persuade, "With your talent, it probably won't take a thousand years to promote to a Tier 5 wizard. By then, when your soul is stable and your cognition is self-contained, studying this again will definitely be much smoother. As long as I don't die halfway, if you come to buy it then, I will definitely sell it to you."

How could Lei Ke not understand this truth?

He smiled bitterly and nodded: "I know, it's just... my heart is itching."

That kind of crazy feeling of facing unknown knowledge but being powerless to go deep is undoubtedly a kind of torture for a genius wizard who is thirsty for knowledge.

He sighed, took the newly obtained Spiritual Energy sample, and turned to find a place to try his observation experiment, which was destined to have few gains.

Sending Lei Ke away, Jie Ming just wanted to take out spatial knowledge to be quiet for a while, when Wei Aola fluttered close to him like a butterfly smelling the fragrance of flowers.

"Junior brother~" her voice carried excitement, "Come again, no, come three copies! High concentration!"

Jie Ming glanced at her: "Senior sister, are you also increasing research investment? Discovered any new characteristics?"

Wei Aola's eyes shone, and she said excitedly: "That's right! My preliminary experiments found that this 'Imaginary Element' of yours has an abnormally gentle and deep nourishing effect on biological tissues! It's not a rough energy infusion, but more like a... hmm... infiltration and guidance of the essence of life! I plan to buy more back to try to cultivate several high-tier magic plants to see if it can induce benign mutations or improve quality!"

As she was speaking, even the usually steady Mentor Clark walked over.

He didn't have any pleasantries and directly operated the magic network terminal.

【Ding! Received high-level military merit transfer from Clark: 10,000 points.】

Jie Ming looked at the skyrocketing number on the account, his eyes went straight, and he almost didn't hold the knowledge crystal in his hand: "Men, Mentor?! You want so much?! This amount is enough to fill a small Tier 6 elemental pool!"

Mentor Clark's expression was plain, explaining: "This is not all my demand. Several lords on the high platform, including Ancestor Nuolun, are also very interested in your 'Imaginary Element' and entrusted me to purchase a portion on their behalf."

He paused, and the gaze looking at Jie Ming carried a trace of rare, undisguised appreciation: "Jie Ming, this 'Imaginary Element' of yours is indeed extraordinary."

"After preliminary research, Ancestor Nuolun believes that its potential is extremely high, its internal structure is complex and orderly, its energy level is very huge, and even... vaguely touches the level of the four basic elements."

Jie Ming's heart tightened suddenly.

Clark continued: "And, Ancestor Nuolun speculates that you are not simulating a single element; your 'Fictional Law' framework seems to be trying to use one or two variants of 'Imaginary Element' to cover, or even replace, the functions of the four basic elements? You are building your Fictional Laws based on the 'Grand Unification Theory,' right? Very courageous, and very thoughtful."

His tone carried encouragement: "We are all looking forward to it. If this path of yours can really be walked through, perhaps, in the future, a brand-new top-tier Fictional Law not inferior to 'destiny' can really be born."

Jie Ming felt cold sweat break out on his back instantly.

Should one say that it is worthy of being a profession that pursues knowledge, the research ability of wizards is too terrifying!

Ancestor Nuolun, with only a small amount of samples, in the absence of a systematic cultivation knowledge background and high-end research equipment, almost touched the core of "Spiritual Energy" in just a few days.

Even the essence of Yin-Yang Spiritual Energy constituting all things was guessed almost correctly!

At this moment, he was infinitely glad that he had chosen to use the skin of "Fictional Laws" to package Spiritual Energy, and also infinitely glad that there were enough geniuses in wizard civilization, and all kinds of whimsical ideas were not uncommon.

If not for this, when he becomes more powerful in the future, if this fundamental system difference is exposed, what it will cause will probably not be curiosity and research, but unpredictable storms.

Seeing that he seemed a little nervous, Clark softened his tone and comforted: "You don't have to put too much pressure on yourself. The 'Grand Unification Theory' itself has many controversies and unsolved loopholes in the academic world, and the path of exploration is destined to be difficult."

"Even if it is not completely successful in the end, with the excellent characteristics shown by this 'Imaginary Element' of yours, timely adjusting the direction and focusing on developing its applications is enough to let you go very far on this path. If it really doesn't work, wait until Tier 6, when the soul and cognition complete a qualitative change, and then turn to deeply study other laws, it will not be too late."

Hearing this, Jie Ming took the opportunity to show a relieved smile, nodded and said: "Thank you, Mentor, I understand, I will act according to my ability."

Then he looked at the huge sum of money and added with some embarrassment: "However, Mentor, extracting such a large amount of 'Imaginary Element' at once takes time. I don't have that much spot goods on hand, the reserves in the Purgatory Sulfur plane are enough, but transportation and purification..."

Clark waved his hand and said indifferently: "No problem, make up for it later, no rush for a moment."

Before the two finished speaking, suddenly...

A strange and magnificent rhythm, like the heartbeat of a sleeping giant beast waking up, and like the first string sound of the universe's beginning, spread out abruptly from the center of the hall, centered on that short figure, instantly sweeping every corner of the entire hall!

This rhythm was not a sound, nor was it an energy impact, but it clearly shook the mental origin of every wizard, causing ripples in their perception of the surrounding laws.

All conversations, experiments, and thoughts in the hall stopped abruptly at this moment.

Everyone, regardless of level, cast their eyes toward the source of the rhythm—Private Secretary Andong Buchanan, who was sitting beside the main seat, having closed his eyes at some unknown time, with law ripples that were difficult to describe beginning to ripple around him.

Without any words, a realization floated in everyone's heart:

The moment for Wizard Andong Buchanan's promotion has arrived!

(End of chapter)